Google Ads Launches New “Original Conversion Value” Metric to Improve Campaign Performance Tracking

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 What Is the “Original Conversion Value” Metric?

  • Google Ads has introduced a new reporting metric called Original Conversion Value. (PPC Land)
  • This metric shows the raw (unadjusted) conversion value before any automated value rules or lifecycle goal adjustments are applied. (PPC Land)
  • In other words, it’s the baseline monetary value of conversions, not modified by business logic or Google’s optimizations. (SEOteric Digital Marketing)

 Why This Matters

  1. Greater Transparency
    • When advertisers use value rules (e.g., to assign higher value to new customers vs returning), or lifecycle goal adjustments, the “conversion value” metric they normally see is transformed. The Original Conversion Value lets them see what the value would have been without those rules. (PPC Land)
    • This helps advertisers isolate how much of performance change is due to actual campaign performance versus value rule logic.
  2. Better Troubleshooting
    • If you notice fluctuations in your standard conversion value, you can now compare it with the Original Conversion Value. That way, you can tell if a drop is due to real performance issues or just rule adjustments. (PPC Land)
    • Especially useful for accounts using value-based bidding (like Target ROAS or Maximize Conversion Value), because those strategies rely heavily on conversion value as a signal. (PPC Land)
  3. Baseline Reporting
    • For agencies or advertisers managing multiple accounts, this provides a “clean” baseline of value across accounts — before adjustments. (PPC Land)
    • It also supports more consistent, cross-account benchmarking when different clients use different value rules or goal adjustments. (PPC Land)

 Key Comments & Expert Analysis

  • SEOteric Digital Marketing:

    They explain that Original Conversion Value “gives advertisers a baseline view … making it easier to diagnose reporting shifts, validate value rules, and sanity‑check automated bidding.” (SEOteric Digital Marketing)

  • Léo Provost (Paid Media Expert):

    Highlighted by PPC Land, he said the metric is “very interesting … when you leverage new client‑driven campaigns with an incremental conversion value on new customer!” (PPC Land)

  • PPC Land / Industry Commentary:
    • The metric “addresses a specific transparency challenge”: when Google’s automated systems adjust values, the true, raw conversion value can get masked — making it hard to know what’s really driving changes. (PPC Land)
    • For accounts that use lifecycle goals (e.g., for new vs returning customers), the Original Conversion Value enables better comparison between unadjusted and adjusted performance. (PPC Land)

 Risks & Things to Watch

  • Limited Use Case: If you don’t use value rules or lifecycle goals, the Original Conversion Value will likely match your regular conversion value, so it may not provide much extra insight. (PPC Land)
  • Data Interpretation Risk: Because many bidding strategies optimize on the adjusted conversion value (after rules), using the original value could confuse optimization if not understood correctly. (PPC Land)
  • Adoption & Visibility: As of now, it seems to be a relatively new, quietly rolled-out metric. Some advertisers may not be aware of it or how to add it to their reports. (PPC Land)
  • Modeling Differences: There might be small discrepancies between unadjusted conversion value and the adjusted value used for bidding, which could require new benchmarks or performance baselines.

 Strategic Implications for Advertisers

  • Optimize Smarter: Use Original Conversion Value to validate whether value rules are delivering the expected impact, or if adjustments are skewing what optimization sees.
  • Reporting Clarity: Add this metric to your standard campaign / ad‑group reports to maintain a “truth check” against adjusted value.
  • Bid Strategy Review: If you’re using value-based bidding, regularly compare the adjusted value (used by bidding) with the original to catch issues early.
  • Benchmarking: Use the unadjusted value to create more consistent cross-account or cross-client performance benchmarks — especially useful for agencies.
  • Great — here are some case‑study style examples and insights / commentary around Google Ads’ new “Original Conversion Value” metric, based on what’s known so far. This will help you understand how different types of advertisers might use it, and what the risks/opportunities are.

     Case Studies & Scenarios

    Case Study 1: Advertiser Using Conversion Value Rules (Value Adjustments)

    • Context: Imagine a business that has set up conversion value rules in Google Ads — e.g., boosting the value of conversions coming from “new customers” or high‑value audiences, or applying a multiplier based on device type or location. These “rules” adjust the reported conversion value from what was originally tracked. (Google for Developers)
    • Use Case: Marketing teams want to know whether a drop in adjusted conversion value is because of a real performance decline or just due to changing value‑rule logic.
    • How Original Conversion Value Helps:
      1. By comparing Original Conversion Value (the raw, unadjusted value) versus the adjusted value, the team can identify whether their value rules are significantly altering the reported conversion revenue. (PPC Land)
      2. If there is a large “gap” between original and adjusted value, the team can audit and possibly rework their value rules to more accurately reflect true business value. (SEOteric Digital Marketing)
    • Impact / Benefit:
      • Improves transparency: Gives a clear baseline of conversion value.
      • Helps validate business logic: Ensures that the adjustments made via value rules actually align with real business outcomes.
      • Enables better Smart Bidding: Since many bid strategies rely on conversion value, knowing how much is “artificially” adjusted helps refine bidding signals.

    Case Study 2: Campaign with Lifecycle Goals (New vs. Returning Customers)

    • Context: Some advertisers use lifecycle goals to bid differently for new customers vs returning ones. For example, they may set a customer acquisition goal and assign different “value settings” for new vs existing customers. (Google for Developers)
    • Use Case: The advertiser runs a “New Customer Acquisition” campaign. Value settings for new customers are higher (because they predict higher lifetime value), so the conversion value reported for those conversions gets adjusted.
    • How Original Conversion Value Helps:
      1. It reveals the “raw” conversion value before lifecycle‑goal adjustments. (PPC Land)
      2. The marketing team can analyze whether their lifecycle value rules are making meaningful (and justifiable) adjustments. If the raw value of new‑customer conversions isn’t much different from returning ones, they may need to reassess their assumptions.
    • Impact / Benefit:
      • Better decision-making: Helps decide if the premium value for “new customer” conversions is justified.
      • Optimization: They can test bid strategies that use raw value vs adjusted value to see which works better.
      • Audit & accountability: Offers a way to check if “value-based rules” are over- or under-valuing certain conversion types.

     Key Commentary & Expert Analysis

    • SEOteric Digital Marketing:
      • Points out that Original Conversion Value provides a “baseline view” of conversion revenue — separating out the effects of value rules or lifecycle adjustments. (SEOteric Digital Marketing)
      • They recommend using it as a diagnostic tool: segment campaigns by original vs adjusted value to spot divergence, then validate value rules (e.g. “are we over‑valuing new customers?”). (SEOteric Digital Marketing)
      • They also caution that Original Conversion Value is not a replacement for adjusted metrics: it doesn’t account for post‑conversion behaviors like attribution models, refunds, or long-term value unless those adjustments are built into the value rules. (SEOteric Digital Marketing)
    • PPC / Industry Perspective (via PPC Land):
      • The new metric solves a “transparency challenge”: when value rules or lifecycle goals are used, the standard conversion value reported (which influences bidding) can hide what the true raw value is. (PPC Land)
      • Léo Provost (Paid Media Expert) noted that for “incremental conversion value” campaigns (e.g., for clients prioritizing new customers), this metric is particularly useful: you can see the true baseline value even when your business logic inflates some conversions. (PPC Land)
      • That said, some practitioners argue that for many accounts where value rules are not used, Original Conversion Value will just mirror the “adjusted” value — so its practical benefit may be limited for “simpler” accounts. (PPC Land)

     Risks & Things to Watch

    • Limited Use for Some Advertisers: If your account does not use conversion value rules or lifecycle goal adjustments, this metric may not provide additional insight — raw and adjusted conversion values might be identical. (PPC Land)
    • Misinterpretation Risk: Because bidding strategies (like Target ROAS or Max Conversion Value) often rely on adjusted conversion values, using the raw (original) value without understanding the adjustments could lead to poor decisions.
    • Data Overload: Adding more metrics means more complexity. Teams may need to build new reports or analyses to make sense of “original vs adjusted” value and when to act on discrepancies.
    • Adoption & Awareness: Since it was rolled out quietly, not all advertisers may know it’s available or understand how to use it effectively — early adoption might be skewed toward power users.

     

 

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